The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been attacking the Congress over its handling of the internal security situation, on Thursday said it will refrain from being critical of the government at this juncture in view of the Mumbai terror strikes which it termed as a "national crisis".

BJP chief Rajnath Singh spoke to his party's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani [Images] in the morning over phone from Jaipur [Images] and decided "not to go critical" of the government on the issue "in this time of crisis", the party said.

The party also asked the people to rise above political affiliations and stand by the security forces in their fight against terror.

"It is a time of national crisis. The country has been challenged. It is time for us to rise above politics. There is no government side or opposition side. Our top leadership has

decided to stand by all steps to defeat the forces who challenge our sovereignty," BJP Vice President Mukthar Abbas Naqvi told PTI.